Diary of a woman on the verge of becoming a healthy weight, and all the good stuff on the way there

3.26.2008

You can take the scale out of the bathroom...

But you can't take the need to weigh-in out of the girl. I caved, I stepped on the scale. Actually, I don't consider it caving. It was a legitimate curiosity and I was ready to face the music. One week of waiting was enough. Luckily, it was a lower number, so of course it was a great feeling, and worth the wait. I felt like I had to be honest with ya'll, even though it only matters to me, really.

Here's what I have learned from this experiment. Keep going. My plateau at 228/230 lasted 5 weeks. I was getting stressed and feeling like a failure. I thought to myself - okay, that' s it. Maybe this is where I am meant to be. Maybe this is the weight my body is happy at. But I kept exercising, I stuck to my eating plan and finally, finally, I am down. I know in my heart that the scale is not the only reward of being healthy. But I can't help enjoying the tangibility of it. Also, getting measured for that bra this weekend was very rewarding too. I wish I had measured myself when I started this whole hullabaloo, but I didn't. Only my band size is evidence that even though the scale hadn't moved in a while, my body was changing its shape anyway.

I encourage you to plow through any plateau - it will pass. Don't stop exercising or eat too much because it all seems hopeless, because it truly isn't. Anything we do for our bodies that is healthful will have healthful benefits, sometimes they come slower than we'd like. But if I can do it, you can too, because I am a pure emotional eater, through and through.

I'd love to hear about how you guys made it through a plateau, and any other tricks you have for staying sane during it. Oooh - and if you weigh yourself every day like I do, do you find it helpful or aggravating?

I mixed up a plateau (I cannot spell that word, no matter how many times I try, I always have to spell check it) by changing over to Weight Watcher's Core eating plan... so far, I'm loving core, and I lost 3 pounds on the first week.

Lowering the sodium in my foods and eating less processed stuff, I think, really helped. Also, since I can (technically) eat as much as I need to feel satisfied, rather than hording points, I eat more consistently through the day, instead of eating a bunch of junk near the evenings to get caught back up on points.

I weigh daily. I didnt own a scale for years nor did I even look when I stepped on one at the doctors office. Thanks to "fear of the scale" feelings by the time I DID start getting real with the numbers I was over 400lbs. The only way to never get there again is to know what the numbers are and use them as the tool they are ment to be used as.

The numbers on the scale are only what we weigh not a rating of who we are.

As for plateus I just ride them out now. They used to stress me but anymore I am happy in who I am now so I don't worry so much about it. I know I am sticking to plan and doing what I need to do and with that the numbers will change one day.

I dont blame you at all for going to that scale..I would be doing the same thing, glad that you liked what you saw. well I know all about being stuck at a plateau! unfortunately patience is all that will really get you through it. I tried mixing up what I ate at different times of the day, tried eating lighter, more exercise, etc. while Im sure all of it helped, my body just did its thing and I hung in there and tried to be patient. I ended up only losing 2 pounds last month and that was really hard at first for me to accept, but Im over it and I know you can get through any plateau as well.

I never allow myself to weigh in more then my weekly. I usually weigh myself the night before my "weigh in" and then that day sometime, and first thing in the morning the day after my weigh in and then average the three values to get my weekly weight change. That way I account for fluid/funky scale and any other tiny difference that just one weight puts out. I HATE the scale and I have not allowed myself to get caught up with it. I totally agree that you should focus more on your body in the sense of measurement and clothing sizes, scales don't always reflect your hard work, but firm muscles and loose clothes do!

So far I have not struggled with a plateau, but when I hit one, I will re-read your post!